Cape Town

• "Cape Town" (Afrikaans: Kaapstad) is the third largest city in South Africa by population, and is the capital of the Western Cape Province, and the legislative capital of South Africa.

• According to the 2001 census, "Cape Town" inhabits 2.9 million people, and its area is 2,499 square kilometres.

• Cape Town is famous for its port, picturesque nature, and some famous areas such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. It was originally a port for Dutch ships sailing to East Africa, India, and Asia.

• It was established in 1652 AD and it was the first permanent European settlement in the sub-Saharan region.

• The city is currently famous for Cape Town International Airport, the second busiest airport in South Africa.

• Those who live there say that their visitor should not spend more than three days on its streets, if he wants to leave someday.

• Cape Town is the oldest and most beautiful city in South Africa, with the Table Mountain in the back and the white sand of the beach underfoot.

• Among the most famous tourist neighborhoods: "Bo kaap":

- Bo Kaap Village, or the Muslim Quarter, is located on the slopes of Signal Hill at the top of Cape Town, and is one of the oldest and most impressive residential areas in the South African city.

- The village is famous for its brightly coloured houses and stone-built streets dating back to the 18th century.

- What distinguishes this Muslim village is its reception of the Eid by colouring the houses in bright colours, but before that the neighbours meet to agree on the colours so that the village appears in harmonious and beautiful colours.

- The population of the Bo-Kaap are descendants of slaves who were imported by the Dutch from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and various African countries during the 16th and 17th centuries.

• After Britain captured Cape Town in 1795, the city witnessed a series of positive changes over the next four decades, including religious freedom, the abolition of the slave trade and an end to slavery, and thus freed slaves formed a new community in Bo-kaap.

• The University of Cape Town “is one of the best universities in the world as it is considered the first university in Africa, and was ranked 171 in the world according to The QS World University Rankings which is worldwide rankings for higher education centers.

• The official language is English and it is the mother tongue of 68.3% of Cape Towns and it is spoken by everyone, while Afrikaans is the second language in the city in terms of the number of speakers in it, and it is the language of the rest of the Europeans who remained after the end of Dutch colonialism and is the mother tongue of 29% of Cape Towns.

• Most Cape Towns are Christians, but there is a large minority of Muslims in Bo kaap.

• "Cape Town" enjoys a Mediterranean climate, so the weather is warm and rainy in the winter, and hot and dry in the summer.

Tourist places in "Cape Town":

- "Table Mountain": The mountain is located inside the national park, and is considered one of the most beautiful and enormous scenes, which has a height of 1086 meters.

- Robben Island: The island is located off the famous coast of Cape Town, where this island was used for three consecutive centuries as an important military base and hospital for psychiatric patients, and it was also a prison for prisoners who hold political cases, and one of the most famous prisoners of this city is 'Nelson Mandela' , Who was imprisoned for eighteen years, and after that he became president of the state of South Africa, but today it is considered one of the most important tourist attractions.

- The Castle of Good Hope “: The castle is one of the oldest colonial buildings that are still standing in the country of South Africa, and it is a building similar to that of the Pentagon, where the process of building this castle began in the year 1666 AD by the Dutch East India Company in order to be able to replenish supplies for warships, that is why the castle designs contain the emblems of the arms of Dutch cities.

- Kirstenbosch: It is the national botanical gardens that were established in the year 1913 AD, and it is considered one of the largest botanical gardens in the world, as it includes the most famous plants in the region.